Staikouras puts pressure on Greek banks to bail out debtors and savers

Greek banks should come up with proposals to actively support citizens who are facing serious financial difficulties due to high inflation and the rising cost of money, Greek Finance Minister Christos Staikouras told them on Thursday, giving the bankers a two-week time frame to take action.

According to the Greek Ministry of Finance, Christos Staikouras met once again with the heads of systemic Greek banks, as well as representatives of the Bank of Greece and the Hellenic Bank Association. After the meeting, the finance minister said that the Greek public faces huge challenges and the financial system should help support the incomes of citizens under pressure, as the government does.

Staikouras discussed the following issues with the bankers:

• Support for vulnerable borrowers who meet their obligations on time, subject to European supervision rules and without tax costs. This proposal should be submitted within the next two weeks.
• Banks should submit proposals that will increase the number of approvals for out-of-court debt settlement applications by borrowers who meet their obligations on time. They must be submitted before the end of the year.
• Interest rates on deposits should be raised, and higher interest rates on loans should be reduced following the increase in the central bank’s interest rate. Banks are expected to move clearly and independently in this direction in the near future. The Greek government wants this to happen immediately, given the significant increase in interest margins of banks in recent times.
• Bank charges set for simple banking transactions should be reviewed. In this regard, the government has provided banks with a proposed list of fees that each bank must set separately and independently.

The statement said a new meeting would take place in about two weeks. This decision by the government was made after the recent evictions of debtors whose homes were sold at auction for small debts. The incident caused a wave of indignation in Greek society, primarily because of the situation that led to these evictions.

Given that the elections are just around the corner, the government of the ruling “New Democracy” is seriously concerned about the fall in ratings, deciding to “resolve” the situation between banks and debtors.

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